Pillow talk: the subjects most of us chat about when we are asleep ...

Around 73 per cent of Scottish residents sleep talk, with food and drink emerging as most commonly discussed nocturnal topic.

Published:10:00Saturday 13 August 2016

Around 73 per cent of Scottish residents sleep talk, with food and drink emerging as most commonly discussed nocturnal topic.

More than two thirds of Britons regularly sleep talk about food, work and what’s been on the box, while one in ten have let slip about a former lover, according to a new survey.

Britain is a nation of sleep talkers, with booze to blame for more than half of nocturnal natters while loose lips have caused arguments and jeopardised relationships for just under a fifth of couples, new research suggests.

The study was carried out by www.Web-Blinds.com, who polled 2,873 UK adults split evenly by gender and region. Respondents were in a relationship and regularly shared a bedroom with their partner.

More than two thirds (67 per cent) had been told they sleep talk by their partner and over half of these respondents blamed it on alcohol (52 per cent), while slightly more (71 per cent) said their partner was a sleep talker.

Just under a fifth (19 per cent) said their other half’s sleep talking had annoyed them and caused arguments in the past, with 12 per cent having been forced to sleep in a separate room and three per cent considering ending their relationship as a result.

The most common topics of sleep talk (up to a maximum of five per respondent) were revealed as:

1. Food and drink (56 per cent)

2. Work and career issues (49 per cent)

3. TV and film (44 per cent)

4. Sex (38 per cent)

5. Sport (31 per cent)

Almost one in ten (nine per cent) confessed that either they or their partner had talked about a past lover during their sleep.

Regionally, the most common conversations were:

South west: 75 per cent are sleep talkers; sex is most common subject

Scotland: 73 per cent; food/drink

London: 71 per cent; work/career

North east: 68 per cent; sport

Yorkshire and Humberside: 68 per cent; TV/film

South east: 67 per cent; food/drink

Northern Ireland: 67 per cent; food/drink

West Midlands: 64 per cent; work/career

Wales: 64 per cent; work/career

North west: 63 per cent; food/drink

East midlands: 61 per cent; TV/film

East Anglia; 61 per cent; sex

Zoe Ashton, spokesperson for www.Web-Blinds.com, said: “Sleep talking is much more common than we’d imagined and can seem funny but it must be disturbing if you’re trying to sleep alongside a chattering partner, and in extreme situations it can even lead to relationship breakdowns.”